Canada2Australia

Yeah, $533 in total. Very steep, but the cost will be exponentially steeper if I can't get on that plane. It's the lesser of two expensive evils, IMO.

I'm going to pay the priority service fee to have it expedited. Hopefully there won't be any dramas with that.

Hi all, quick question. I am a dual citizen (Canada and Australia) with plans to travel back home at the end of July. I've applied for my passport this week but have just found out that the wait times are through the roof and now I'm concerned I may not get my passport in time. Can I still travel out of the country on my Canadian passport, and then re-enter Australia with my Citizenship Certificate to show proof that I am a citizen? I'm getting a bit desperate. Thanks in Advance

I just checked and it does indeed say that; insanity. When I was a non-citizen, it took all of 10 minutes after applying to approve my ETA, in 2015. My mother is planning on coming out next year. I can't believe the backlog is so large that it would take 20 months to grant ETA.

I just checked and it does indeed say that; insanity.

I would have never thought time on a tourist visa counted towards the four year golden rule. That seems like a fairly large loophole to allow many more people to gain citizenship on a far less stringent pathway than most of us had to follow.

Does anyone know what happens to your ImmiAccount once you are granted citizenship? Does it stay active indefinitely or does it get shut down fairly quickly?

As mentioned, that would be irrelevant to a bank.

Had my ceremony on Friday. Nice to finally be out of the immigration process.

Not sure what go is in the UK, but in Canada people who are on the cusp of foreclosure with regards to mortgage payments have an option with something call 'Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure'. This option allows the mortgagor to hand over the Land Title of the property to the mortgagee in exchange for being forgiven of the mortgage debt. In essence, you turn over ownership of your property to the bank and walk away from all your property-related debt. The only thing you lose is the equity you payed into the property. There is also little to no effect on your credit rating for going this route, so you are not punished for doing so. End of story. It's a last resort but far better than going through foreclosure or bankruptcy. If the UK has this option and it works similarly to how it works in Canada, you should seriously consider going that route if you are in that bad of a situation.

Canadian indigenous history is almost a carbon copy of Australia's due to both being large sparsely populated Commonwealth colonial countries, governed almost identically. The US had some similarities but far more differences and did a bit better in dealing with their native people IMO, although their Black and Hispanic issues more then negate any of the aforementioned positives. As I've mentioned before, it's only a matter of time before we start to hear similar stories of residential school atrocities from right here in Australia, I'm confident of this, sadly. The graves just haven't been located yet. And yes, we will have to eventually just put it behind us and move on. We can't keep saying 'I'm forever' as that will only encourage further racial divide. Personally, I'm sick of it.

Oh, trust me, the guilt that I've felt has diminished over time and I fully agree about taking ownership of one's life. The problem in Canada right now is, because of the whole residential school mass unmarked graves of aboriginal children killed (in the 1000s now with many more likely to be uncovered as time goes by), there is some sense that the government f'ed up and needs to take ownership for the lives of those children in their care. As does certain segments of the Catholic Church. Apart from that, yup, First Nations people have the power to change their lives in the 21st century of they have the will. If they do not, that is on them and no one else.

Yup, First Nations. Same as in certain areas back home, although what I've witnessed in the NT takes those issues to a while other, much more severe level. All part of colonial government mismanagement over the past 200ish years.

My difference is almost all of my family and friends will stay in Winnipeg, and Canada in general. So I will always have people to visit and live life with over there. Here, I will never make the kinds of friends I have back home, and I've accepted that harsh reality. I moved here too late in my life to be able to do so. But it will always be a dream of mine to live equality in both countries.

This is pretty much me (although I may leave down the track, completely unsure), and always will be. I love Australia, but I will never love it or any other country as much as Canada. Full stop. It's something I've discovered about myself after several years of living here. I guess I'm more patriotic towards my home country than I thought! I will always be Canadian first and foremost.